The Blue Jays announced that they have claimed infielder Ben Cowles off waivers from the Cubs. Chicago had designated him for assignment a few days ago when they signed Shelby Miller. Toronto has placed Bowden Francis on the 60-day injured list to open a spot for this claim.
Cowles, 26, is still looking to make his major league debut. The Cubs added him to their 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. He was kept in the minors on optional assignment until being designated for assignment in early September. He went to the White Sox via waivers but then the Cubs claimed him back in January. Now the Cubs have lost him via the wire a second time.
He has a decent floor as a speed-and-defense type. He has lots of minor league experience at the three infield spots to the left of first base. He has posted double-digit stolen base totals in each of the past four minor league seasons.
The bat is more of a question mark. He had a really good year at the plate in 2024, slashing .286/.372/.457 at the Double-A level for a 141 wRC+. The Cubs acquired him from the Yankees that summer as part of the Mark Leiter Jr. trade and then gave him a roster spot at season’s end. His 2025 was far less impressive, as he slashed .235/.300/.371 at the Triple-A level for a 71 wRC+. Though he had drawn walks at a 10.4% rate in 2024, that figure dropped to 7.2% last year. His strikeout rate also jumped from 17.7% to 28.8%.
That dip at the plate has pushed Cowles to the waiver wire a few times but clubs clearly still like the profile enough to keep picking him up. For the Jays, they had a roster spot to use since Francis is going to miss 2026 due to Tommy John surgery, so they’ve used it to add some infield depth.
It’s possible Cowles ends up back on waivers at some point, but for now, he provides the Jays with some optionable depth for an infield that should look different than last year. Bo Bichette departed via free agency, signing with the Mets. Andrés Giménez should take over the shortstop job, as he did while Bichette was hurt late in 2025. Ernie Clement will likely become the regular at second base. The Jays signed Kazuma Okamoto to cover third base, which should push Addison Barger into a more regular corner outfield role. Davis Schneider should be on the bench in a short-side platoon role, able to play second base or an outfield corner.
Leo Jiménez is still on the 40-man roster but is out of options, meaning he’d need to be kept on the big league squad or passed through waivers. Since Cowles still has options, that could give him a leg up over Jiménez in hanging onto a roster spot as a depth infielder.
As for Francis, he’ll spend the entire season on the 60-day IL. No pitcher wants to miss an entire season but the upside is that he’ll collect a full year of big league pay and service time. He’ll cross three years of service this year and will be eligible for arbitration going into 2026, but he’ll be a non-tender candidate after so much missed time. He also missed the second half of 2025 due to a shoulder impingement.
Photo courtesy of Cody Scanlen, Imagn Images
wow
Why?
Why not
young-ish, healthy, versatile, 0 service time and available
That’s why, now why not
Because I said so!
I’m guessing it’s insurance in case they lose Jiménez on waivers because I don’t think he’ll make the opening day roster. I’m sure one of Jiménez or Cowles will clear for depth in case a middle infielder goes down and a backup is needed.
Ben Cowles 5
More Cowle bell!
Take that Dodgers!!
ha!
…waived by your team to clear room for a pitcher (Shelby Miller) that won’t even take the mound this year …
whoa, Happy Birthday bud
There really isn’t anything as boring as this annual player 39 ad 40 hokey pokey that goes on at the end of the off season and before the season starts. except maybe the continuous pablum that goes on about the CBA negotiations. That we all know should be going on right now but will wait until the last possible second like they do every time they come up. You’d think these people would learn from their mistakes but apparently not.
I think endless articles about Jasmine Crockett’s supposed chances of winning a US Senate seat from Texas are about as boring.
Who is that?
Sorry… Merikan political stuff is boring…
Does he have a story too?
Why would anyone care about any election in Texas? Everyone knows they’ll just change the rules to make it come out how they want anyway.
They really need to revamp the 40-man roster rules, since they have been in place for over 100 years. Increasing the size to 45 but putting restrictions on capping it at 23 pitchers, limiting the number of optioned players over the age of 28, and limiting a team to 2 concurrent 60-day IL placements.. all would help stop this nonsense. Keep the 40 man limit just for the Rule 5 draft.
World Series here we come, lmfao!!!
Not the signing I would of like to see. I would of like to have seen them sign Zack Littell because of B.Frances Injerey and and Shane Beaver injerey.